Class of 2025 Senior Spotlight: Jack and Jenna Cubbage, Eureka High

Jack Cubbage is one minute older than his twin sister, Jenna. He has known Jenna for literally his entire life, and Jenna has known Jack for all but 60 seconds of hers.

They have grown up together, advanced through Pond Elementary, Wildwood Middle and Eureka High together and, even if their classes, schedules and interests diverged, they could always count on the fact that they were having roughly the same experiences at the same time.

Next year, that changes. After graduation, Jack is going to Washington University in St. Louis to major in accounting and play basketball, while Jenna is going to Wichita State University in Kansas to play volleyball and study chemistry on a pre-med track with hopes of becoming a pediatrician.

The siblings’ new schools will only be about 400 miles apart. Still, it’s going to take some getting used to.

“We’ve lived our whole lives together,” Jenna said. “It’s going to be a big change. But we’re pretty close outside of school, too, so I think we’ll continue to check in on each other and things like that.”

The twins formed their own identities during their time in Rockwood.

Jack played baseball and basketball, was part of National Honor Society, Best Buddies and the E!Crew and played the violin in orchestra. Like his mother, he gravitated more toward math, finance and accounting as his curricular interests.

Jenna was on the volleyball, basketball and track and field teams, part of National Honor Society, PE Mentors, E!Crew and SWAT and played viola in the orchestra. Taking after her father, she tended to enjoy science classes – especially chemistry and biology.

Both say they have benefited from the quality of the educational experience they have enjoyed in Rockwood schools.

“Rockwood has really good teachers who care about their students and go out of their way to make sure everyone in the class is getting the material they need,” Jack said. “I feel like they have always been supportive and helped propel and give people confidence in classes.”

Jenna remembers the warm welcome she received from teacher Danielle Toro at Pond in first grade and how it served as a great way to start off her time in Rockwood. Both of the siblings have enjoyed the guidance they’ve received from Mary White in orchestra at Eureka, and Jenna’s chemistry classes with Andrew Ribbing and Forensics and Biology with Kathleen Hardee have also left a lasting impression.

They’re forging their own paths for the future, just like they have in the past.

“The teachers I’ve had, especially in chemistry and biology, have really helped me find my love for that and I’ve really enjoyed those classes because they’ve made the way that we learn entertaining,” Jenna said. “At younger ages, too, the teachers were very encouraging, and they will do what they can do to help you succeed.”